Who Is This Jesus?

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Who is this Jesus that Christian’s hold as the Savior of humanity, the creator of all that is created? Is He an invention of people in a world without hope to give some sort of assurance for a better future? If He is real what difference does my knowing Him or not make? Was He just a good man, a man who had a prophetic edge, who worked some fancy miracles , a charismatic character who had the ability to draw crowds?

 

 

What you believe determines how you live!

Writing this article will be a progressive journey, due to its complexity and scope …. so follow along as l add to this each week. If this section which will also have a strong apologetic focus (give reason for why we believe), interests you, you may wish to subscribe so that when it is updated you will be notified automatically.

 

Thursday, September 9th, 2010 

As Josh McDowell would say there are only three alternatives as to who this Jesus is, given His amazing claim namely that He is God. He is who He claims to be or He is a liar or a lunatic.  No other person has had such a profound impact on humanity as this solitary life. The movement named after Him – ‘Christian’s’ have revolutionized the world in so many ways due to the impact of this man upon their lives.

Charitable agencies – a result of Jesus’ teaching on the Good Samaritan. Value of women – Jesus elevated the status of women in society. Value of human life - Jesus preached love friends & love enemies also.

These few mentioned here are by no means the full scope of influence that Christianity has had on society throughout the ages, for further reading see D. James Kennedy’s book ‘What if Jesus had never been born’ - you will be surprised to see how far-reaching it is.

 

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010  

One Solitary Life:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenters shop untill He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled more than 200 miles from the place where He was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

He was about thirty when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

All the armies that have ever marched, all the naves that ever sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as this solitary life.         (James Francis)

 

Saturday, June 12th, 2011 

See PDF “Jesus Who is He?”

One of the many proofs that Jesus was God Incarnate is the aspect of fulfilled prophecy. It’s easy to fulfil prophesies that one has the ability to control but what of the numerous prophesies that He fulfilled that He had no control over?

OT Prophecy & Scripture	NT Fulfillment
Born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14)	Matt. 1:22–23
Born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2)	Luke 2:4–7
Preceded by a forerunner (Mal. 3:1)	Matt. 11:10
Entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9)	Matt. 21:4–5
Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12)	Matt. 26:14–15
Spat on and struck (Isa. 50:6)	Matt. 26:67
Crucified with other prisoners (Isa. 53:12)	Luke 22:37
Pierced through hands and feet (Ps. 22:16)	John 20:25–27
Pierced through His side (Zech. 12:10)	John 19:34–37
Soldiers gambled for clothing (Ps. 22:18)	Matt. 27:35
Buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isa. 53:9)	Matt: 27:57–60
Would be resurrected (Ps. 16:10	Matt. 28:5–7

 What Are The Odds?

Jesus could not have accidentally or deliberately fulfilled these prophecies. Obviously, events such as His birthplace and lineage, method of execution, soldiers casting lots for His garments, or being pierced in the side are events beyond Jesus’ control.

Peter Stoner and Robert Newman, in their Book Science Speaks, demonstrate the statistical improbability of any one man, accidentally or deliberately, from the day of these prophecies down to the present time, fulfilling just eight of the hundreds of prophecies Jesus fulfilled. They demonstrate that the chance of this happening is 1 in 10¹⁷ power.

Stoner gives an illustration that helps visualize the magnitude of such odds:

Suppose that we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.

It is mathematically absurd to claim that Jesus accidentally or deliberately fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Obviously, this evidence stands as a powerful demonstration of Jesus’ Messiahship.

Story, D. (1997). Defending Your Faith (79–80). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.